Remember to Sleep
by Vertus Vanderun
Summary: A look into Foxface's final moments in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. One-shot.


Sleep.

I've had none.

Because sleep is inefficient. Sleep is a waste of time, at least in the Games.

I knew that from the start. I thought that was the way to go so I trained for it. The moment I stepped into the area, grabbed what I could and left, I prepared myself for insomnia.

Mother told me to always be one step ahead or I'd fall behind. I might've sprinted that step, seeing as how I was nowhere and everywhere at any given time to the other Tributes, especially those foolish Careers, who seemed to have left their common sense with their mentors. Karo was the other Tribute from 5. He never said much to me throughout training and showing ourselves off to Sponsors, but the night before the Games, he said something to me that echoed in my ears for a long while. I forget it now, but it was something so trite that I scoffed at it.

I caught sight of the Tributes of District 12 a few moments ago, and have been tracking them for some time. The grass is thick and the leaves crunch like mines so I keep myself pigeon-toed to lessen the sound my own steps. I spot them a few yards from the creek bed. They are paying no attention to their surroundings. Well, the girl is. The boy is wandering freely like they were in real woods. He puts down a handful of berries on the windbreaker-lined ground. They're dark, oozing juice, and it's then that my stomach rumbles.

I'm parched. The food from the Careers sustained me, but I need that constant intake to get rid of the sleep I'm already starting to feel. Desperation takes me, and when the boy goes out of view, I take the berries and run off. Without a second to spare, I engulf the handful.

The moment I swallow them I realized the poison I've just ingested.

Nightlock.

And I completely missed it.

My body collapses without my saying so into the loose and buggy dirt. I bounce a little and land on my back. My final glance is up at the dome that surrounds us, traps us like the wild animals we are. I pretend that it's the true sky. I'm looking at real stars now.

My mind decides that now is the time to fall back on memories of my childhood. My mother teaches me the plants every morning at the crack of dawn. Constant enough that by the time I'm seven I can run off names like they were friends of mine. I am suddenly twelve, beating friends at races through the woods, hide-and-seek; I'm simply the best. My gloating is short-lived like my friendships. I am at my best when in solitude.

Then the Reaping comes. I'm wearing red, which Mother tells me is the symbol of power and strength. It makes me briefly wonder what color means survival. I see Karo try to fight the crowd, avoid his duty. I remember thinking that he was so small and useless to my small but formidable appearance. We go to the Capitol, and I hear the only words spoken to me from him.

"Remember to sleep."

The canon fires and we charge the Cornucopia. He's dead as quickly as I'm 100 yards out. I don't weep his death when I see his face in the sky…

But I do now. The false sky comes back to me, and I feel tears run down my burning cheeks. My insomnia forced me to become irrational. I trained for so long, only to be foolish and grab any food I wished. The berries I was starving for have caused my loss in the Games. Mother is probably watching. I assume she's sobbing and wondering how her daughter could ever bring power and strength to District 5. I made such a childish mistake, and the boy I disregarded on the entire journey spelled it out for me.

I know my fault, and I only wish he'd come back so I could give a proper apology. I'll meet him soon. I'll tell him that I selfishly ignored his advice. My body slows, and the breathing becomes more difficult with every inhale; but I close my eyes.

I remember the calmness in Karo's tone when he says it. My last thought is the one I should've had when I was first Reaped. No longer is it a waste of time, because now I'm getting all the time in the world to do it.

Eons away, the canon announces the moment I finally get to sleep.


End file.
